What they don't know wont hurt them!
by Morganvilleresident09
Summary: Claire Danvers is on the run from her destiny. She moves into the Glass House along with Shane, Eve, and Michael. But will Claire ever be able to escape her horrifying destiny, or will she be stuck with it for all her lives to come? Pls R&R! Thnx!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Claire Danvers is stood outside on the pavement. It's a late hot Saturday afternoon in the small town called Morganville. She's staring up at 716 Lot Street; a big, beautiful, almost creepy-looking, mansion.

Ok… this was SUCH a bad idea! But what other choice do I have? It's this, or the last year on the run. She thinks to herself. She takes a deep breath, picks up the only two bags she owns, and opens the little front gate. She walks up to the front door and presses the doorbell.

What if there's nobody in?

She looks down again, at the little newspaper clipping clutched in her hand. It reads,

'Room for rent! 716 Lot Street. Privacy assured and with reasonable rent!'

She's about to lose her nerve and walk away when the big front door swings open to reveal an older looking guy, about a year or so older than Claire, standing on the other side. He has shaggy brown hair and bright green eyes.

'Um… can I help you?' he asks. His eyes run over her light denim shorts and her dark blue blouse.

'Erm… I hope so. My name's Claire and I'm here about a room for rent?'

'Oh right, the room!' his eyes run over her again appreciatively, they start off at the top of her shiny black hair, and travel all the way down to her black ballet shoes, before resting back on her crystal blue eyes.

'I'm Shane,' he says, he holds out his hand and they shake. 'Eve and Michael are at work, but you can come in and wait if you want?'

'Um, sure, that'd be great!'

'Cool, c'mon in!'

He leads her down a big hall, with pictures hanging on the wall and big posh rugs, and into a huge living room. In it, it has; an expensive looking TV, three leather couches, one armchair, a coffee table, and some bookshelves.

'Wow, this place is huge!' Claire breaths.

'Yep. We weren't kidding about the whole privacy thing you know,' he nods towards the paper clipping in her hand.

'No kidding!'

She looks up at Shane and finds him watching her. She feels a blush creeping up towards her cheeks and so she quickly continues with inspecting the room.

'Is that an Xbox 360?'

'Yep. It's one of the many awesome things I brought with me when I moved in here,' he announces.

'Neat!'

'You want a game?'

'Depends… you got any zombie games?' She looks up at him, expecting an answer, and finds him grinning at her. 'Tons,' he says.

After about an hour or so of killing zombies, they hear the front door go.

'Yo, Goth's in the house, my peeps!' a girl's voice comes from the hallway.

'In here!' Shane calls back.

'Big shocker,' the girl says, walking into the room. 'Oh, who's this?'

The fact that she's a Goth is un-doubtfully obvious. She's wearing a skirt that looks as though it's been caught up in a shredder, along with some black Doc Martins. Also, she has on a black top with a skull on the back and some writing on the front saying,

'Either bite me, or get bitten!'

Not to mention the long, jet black hair, and the full Goth makeup.

'This is Claire, Claire this is Eve,' Shane introduces them.

'Hey!' Eve says brightly.

'Hey,' Claire says a little awkwardly.

'She's here to check out the room. What time's Mikey getting back?'

'Hell, I don't know. Ring him and ask,' Eve says.

'Dude, you're his girlfriend, you ring him and ask!'

'No.'

'Yes.'

'No.'

Yes!'

'Read the shirt dumbass!' Eve says.

'Very funny,' Shane says sarcastically.

'Well, I try,' Eve says, fluttering her eyelashes at him innocently. Shane just rolls his eyes and turns back to Claire.

'So, how come you're looking for a place to stay, anyway?'

'Oh,' Claire says shrugging. 'I haven't really got anywhere else to go, it's this or the street. And we all know that, in Morganville, the streets aren't exactly the safest place to be at night.'

'Tell me about it,' Eve sighs. 'Well, I hope you stay, it'd be nice to have another girl around.' Claire smiles.

'Then let's hope I stay!'

Shane and Claire go back on the Xbox for another thirty minutes, Claire wins.

When the third roommate gets in he walks into the living room and spots Claire.

'Hey Mikey, this is Claire. She's auditioning for the room!'

'Hey,' Claire says, smiling sweetly.

'Heya, I'm Michael,' they shake hands.

'She's awesome! She's kicking my ass, man. I think I've finally met my match!' Shane grins. Claire rolls her eyes.

Michael smiles before asking, 'Where's Eve?'

'Here!' Eve calls. She walks into the room and kisses Michael quickly on the lips. 'How was work?'

'Same old, same old. How about you?'

'Oh, you know, my boss is an asshole of a vamp who takes pleasure in other people's suffering.'

'That bad, huh?' Shane asks. That's when Claire notices something about Michael, his skin's too pale.

Oh my God! He's a fucking VAMPIRE!

Claire quickly looks over at Shane, he's watching as the realisation hits her, but he simply smiles and nods reassuringly. Claire lets out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, her heartbeat speeds up. Michael must've heard it because he turns towards her and gives her an apologetic smile, he must be able to read her expression like a book right now.

Oh God, what if he knows who I am? I'll never have a hope in hell of staying hidden! She thinks to herself in horror.

'So Claire,' Shane says. 'How old are you?'

'I'm, um, seventeen in about two and a half weeks,' she replies.

Just then there's a knock at the front door. Eve stands up and goes to answer it.

Claire, Shane, and Michael are all silent as they listen to the voices drift down the hall.

'Hello, Miss Rosser,' came a formal female voice, a voice Claire knows all too well. Claire freezes and both the guys stare at her. The voice came again, 'I would like to see Miss Danvers please.'


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

'Um… Eve's voice falters, 'Y-yes, ma'am!'

'Thank you.'

'Right this way, ma'am,' Eve says. They hear them making their way towards the living room.

Oh SHIT! This is it. My life SUCKS! Claire thinks to herself.

When they enter the room Claire shoots up put of her chair in a respectful gesture, forcing a smile.

'Amelie,' she says in a slightly strained voice.

Amelie, the founder of Morganville, is wearing a light grey suit. She has piercing grey eyes and golden blonde hair that is piled up into a crown on top of her head.

'Well, well, well,' Amelie says smiling. 'If it isn't the famous Claire Danvers!'

'In the flesh and bones,' Claire sighs in resignation.

There are three other vampires along with Amelie. Two of them Claire is sure are Amelie's bodyguards, but she can't place the third vamp. He has long, greying hair pulled back into a ponytail and a long black leather coat. He looks… dangerous. Claire feels shivers run down her spine.

'Um… W-what can I do for you?' Claire asks, returning her gaze to Amelie.

'Nothing.'

'What?'

'It is what I want to do for you that brings me here today.'

'Huh?'

'I want to help you,' Amelie says simply. Claire snorts.

'Yeah. Right. What's the catch?'

'There is no catch. As you already know, I know what it is you are destined for. I have SEEN what you have to sacrifice. I want to help you!'

'Oh my God. You're serious aren't you?' Amelie nods. 'Well you can't,' Claire says abruptly. 'No one can.'

Eve, Shane and Michael are all sat down on the couch. They're watching this confrontation in silence, but then Michael decides to speak up. He clears his throat.

'Um, if you don't mind me asking of course, what's going on?'

Amelie looks over at him, then at Shane, then at Eve. She then returns her gaze to Claire, eyes wide.

'You mean, they don't know?' she asks in disbelief.

'No. And I'm keeping it that way,' Claire replies sharply.

Oh, this is SO not happening! She thinks to herself.

'That's stupid!' the vamp with the ponytail snaps. 'You know how your destiny is to be and your birthday's in less than a month! When exactly are you expecting to meet HIM?'

'Oliver...' Amelie warns. Claire lowers her gaze.

'I was kinda hoping that I wouldn't,' she admits.

'Yeah,' Oliver laughs mockingly, 'because THAT is going to happen!' Claire frowns.

'Oliver!' Amelie snaps.

'Okay... what the HELL are you talking about?' Eve demands.

Amelie opens her mouth to speak, but Claire interrupts.

'Do NOT tell them!' she snaps.

Everyone falls deadly silent, Oliver gives Claire a death glare, but Amelie remains calm.

'If you're going to be living with them, don't you think they have a right to know?' she asks softly.

'If I tell them then they are in danger. You know it, I know it, so let's just leave it at that.'

'Do you really think they are though? How do you know?'

'Because I've seen it happen before!' Claire says, tears coming to her eyes. 'And I know you know it, so don't even try it.' Her expression is hard but her voice wavers, and everyone hears it.

'And why would you even care?' Oliver asks. 'You hardly know these people.'

'I-I don't know… I-' Claire stutters. She knows exactly what he's going to say next. Is it really that obvious? She asks herself. 'I-'

'Maybe it's because your destiny is already taking hold, and correct me if I'm wrong,' he interrupts her.

Claire just stares at him, eyes wide, mouth open but with no sound coming out.

'No-I… why are you doing this?' she finally manages to choke out, looking back at Amelie. 'I have a whole year until my eighteenth birthday!'

'Yes, but your seventeenth is just as important,' Amelie sighs.

'Which, technically, means that you only have about two weeks until your free will is ripped away from you,' Oliver reminds her.

'Oliver, give it a rest!' Amelie snaps and he finally falls silent.

'WHY do you want to help me, though? It just isn't you, Amelie!'

Amelie shakes her head. 'Ever since I've been the Founder of Morganville, I've had to see you…' she looks over at Eve, Shane and Michael. Claire stiffens.

'I would choose your next words VERY carefully if I were you,' she says to Amelie, her voice low and even.

'I've had to see you… accept defeat and be handed over to your destiny,' Amelie finishes.

'Yeah... But-that doesn't really answer my question. Why do you want to help? Why do you even care?'

Amelie pauses before answering. 'Granted. If it were just the one time then I wouldn't give it a second thought, but it's not. Your destiny repeats itself, every eighteen years, and you can't stop it. You can never find peace, Claire Danvers, and THAT is why I want to help.'

'Yeah, Amelie, that's all very well and good but-well, you said it yourself, I CAN'T stop it, I CANT ever find peace.'

'But what if you can? What if, somehow, we find a way?' Amelie pushes. Claire sighs.

'There's only ONE way that it can stop, and I have to make that choice in less than a month, but if I choose to make it stop then they all die.' Amelie opens her mouth to speak but Claire cuts her off. 'I would wipe out my ENTIRE species, Amelie. And I can't do that.'

'Correction,' Oliver snaps. 'You can't do that… AGAIN!'

Claire and Amelie both glare at him, Amelie turns back to Claire.

'Well... I can see your mind is made up, Claire Danvers, well… for the time being, at least.' Claire turns her glare on Amelie. 'Well,' Amelie continues, 'I shall leave you now… but Claire? If you DO change your mind, do not hesitate to call.'

And with that, the four vamps leave the room and the house. When the front door closes behind them, the houses mood seems to change somehow, it feels happier, and it feels like a weight's being lifted from Claire's shoulders. A weight that suddenly crashes back down when she looks over at her new roommates and sees their expressions.

'Okay,' Eve says. 'I'm just going to come out and say it, what the HELL, Claire?' Claire sighs.

'Just drop it, guys,' she mutters, not able to meet their gazes.

'Like fuck we will!' Shane says. For a minute their eyes meet and Claire stands, frozen to the spot. She hears Shane's quick intake of breath and notices the other two looking from each of them in confusion. Claire has no idea what facial expression she's wearing and she quickly looks away.

Yep. she thinks to herself. I was right first of all, this was SUCH a bad idea.

There's about a minute of awkward silence before Eve finally breaks it.

'I'll take her bags up to her room,' she mutters. She picks them up and carries them up the stairs, leaving Claire alone with the two guys. Claire's head is bowed and her eyes are fixed on a loose thread on the rug under her feet. She hears a movement from one of the guys but Claire isn't sure which one it is. And then, suddenly, Shane's standing in front of her, he puts a hand under her chin, forcing her to look at him.

'Claire, please,' he murmurs. 'Tell me what's going on.'

Michael makes his way out of the room, muttering something about needing to start on dinner. Claire keeps looking at Shane, her eyes guarded as she scrambles to find the perfect excuse. But she can't concentrate on her thoughts, all she can concentrate on is Shane. Shane, who she knows plays a very important part in her destiny, because he's the guy of her dreams. Her soul mate.

'I-I can't.' She forces the words out of her mouth, her throat trying to close around them and cut them off.

'You can't what?' Shane asks, wiping the tears from her cheeks, she hadn't realised she'd been crying. She takes a step backwards, away from Shane. She wipes at her eyes and forces some strength back into her voice.

'I can't fight my destiny, but that doesn't mean I wont try.' And then she runs up the stairs, just as Eve walks out of the room at the far end of the hall.

'Are you okay?' Eve asks.

'Yeah, yeah, I'm fine,' Claire assures her.

'Okay... Well, I put your bags in your room for you.' She motions towards the room she had just left.

'Okay, thanks!' Claire says, running for her room. 'I've got to go unpack, I'll be down in a minute!'

As soon as she slams her door shut, Claire throws herself on the bed and starts to cry.

God, destiny sucks!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Claire doesn't realise that she's fallen asleep until she wakes up. She stretches out her cramped muscles before sitting up. She looks over at herself in the mirror and groans, major bed-head alert! She rummages through her bags until she finds her hairbrush, deciding to make her hair her number-one priority for the moment to keep her mind off her more pressing problems. Like her death. She winces at the thought. After unpacking her things and getting changed into her blue jeans and a purple top, Claire realises how hungry she is and so she makes her way downstairs. As she gets near the bottom step she hears voices coming from the kitchen, she sits down on the bottom step and listens as soon as she hears her name being spoken.

'So, you guys definitely still think she should stay?' Claire's sure that's Michael speaking.

'Hell, yeah!' Eve replies. 'She might have a few secrets but, hey, who doesn't? And I'm seriously not joking about it when I say that there needs to be AT LEAST one other girl under this roof besides me.' Both the guys sigh.

'What about you, Shane?' Michael asks. 'You think she should stay?'

'Why not?' Shane replies. 'I like her.'

'No, mate,' Michael sighs. 'I see the way you look at her, you don't just like her, you lo-'

Claire quickly stands up, deliberately making the stairs creak to cut Michael off mid-word. Silence falls in the kitchen.

'Claire, is that you?' Eve calls out.

'Yeah,' Claire calls back. 'Be there in a sec!'

She walks into the kitchen, acting as though she never heard a word, and pours herself some coffee.

'So... What are you guys talking about?'

'Oh, nothing. Just the usual,' Shane replies innocently. But you'd have to be blind to miss the glare he's sending Michael's way.

'How comes you never came down last night?' Eve asks.

'Oh, sorry, I fell asleep,' Claire admits with an impish grin.

'Oh, okay, fair do's.'

Claire sits down at the table with her coffee.

'You hungry?' Michael asks.

'Oh, no ta, I'm good,' Claire replies, shaking her head. Overhearing the conversation between Shane and Michael has made her earlier hunger a distant memory.

Michael comes and sits next to her with his breakfast whilst the other two are still serving up. Just then, there's another knock at the front door, everyone turns to look at Claire before Eve goes to answer it.

Claire stays where she's sat, her heart hammering in her chest. And then Eve walks in, followed by… FRANK COLLINS! Oh shit! He's exactly the same as the last time Claire saw him, with his heavy boots and old leather jacket. And he has a scar running down the side of his face, mangling it into a constant snarl. Claire quickly dips her head, letting her hair fall over her shoulders to cover her face. She's acutely aware of Michael watching her in confusion.

'Shane,' Frank says. 'We need to talk, now!'

They all stand up and follow Frank into the living room. Claire keeps her head bowed, trying to not cause too much attention to herself. There's a long silence.

Uh-oh. Too late, they know who I am! Claire thinks to herself, but she's quickly corrected.

'Vampire!' Someone spits and then there's a lot of movement.

'No, dad, don't!' Shane yells. Dad? Claire chances a glance up and sees Frank, holding a silver knife, lunging straight at Michael. Michael just stands there, frozen. On impulse, Claire uses her instincts… and her powers. The knife stops dead about an inch away from Michael's heart, and no matter how hard Frank tries to push it further, it doesn't budge. Eventually, Frank gives up, he lets go of the knife and it clatters to the floor. He then looks around at everyone else in the room before his eyes rest on Claire. His eyes widen and he grabs for the knife, lunging straight for her. It all happens too fast for Claire to register and, suddenly, Shane is pushing Frank off balance. Shane then quickly pulls Claire behind him before Frank has another chance to attack.

'What the HELL, dad!' Shane yells.

'What the hell was that for, son? Don't you know who she is? That's Tracy Dapinson's niece!'

'What?' Shane asks.

'Yeah, son, remember? When we were on the run we were invited to their annual party!'

Shane and Claire both gasp and turn to look at each other.

'No way!' Shane murmurs at exactly the same time as Claire whispers,

'Oh my God!'


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Shane's Flashback!

Shane's dad's dragged him to some stupid party because his dad is visiting some so called 'old friends.'

Yep. this is SO boring! Shane thinks to himself. He's currently stood with his dad and some woman called Tracy. That's when he sees something out of the corner of his eye that catches his attention. A girl. She's just come in through the back door. She takes one look at the room full of people, bows her head, and legs it up the stairs. She's wearing a school uniform, because it's a Friday, that consists of; black tights, a grey skirt, a white blouse, and a grey cardigan with the local school's logo on it. He looks back at his dad and Tracy and, managing to slip away unnoticed, he makes his way up the stairs after the girl. At the top of the stairs there are loads of different doors, but one of them is slightly open. He walks over to it and pushes it open just as he sees the girl pulling on a dark blue top to go with her light blue jeans. Oops. He goes to take a step back but the floorboards creak under his feet, causing the girl to grab something off her dressing table and spin around to face him. It takes him a while to register that it's a knife that she's pointing at him. He slowly raises his hands in defence.

'Who are you?' the girl asks. She looks scared, and her voice is shaking.

'I'm... the son of a friend on Tracy's.'

'What do you want?' she asks, not relaxing any and not lowering the knife.

'I-Nothing. I was just bored, I guess.'

'How long have you been stood there?' she asks, her cheeks turning to scarlet.

'Just got here,' he answers.

'You're not supposed to be up here. Upstairs is a no go zone.'

'Didn't know that,' Shane replies, his hands still in the air.

'Why aren't you at the party?'

'No one to talk to.'

'There are plenty of kids your age downstairs.'

'I know, and they're a bunch of knobs and twats who talk nothing but bullcrap.'

That gets a small smile out of her. He looks back at the knife.

'I'm not going to hurt you…' he tells her. She continues to watch him for a few seconds more before sighing and putting the knife in a drawer.

'Mind if I hang out here for a while?'

He takes her silence as a 'yes' and walks into the room and lies down on her bed. Her eyes are still guarded and they don't stop watching him. Eventually, however, she pulls out a sketchbook, sits on the windowsill, balances her sketchbook on her knee, and starts drawing. He watches her as she draws, her face full of concentration. She looks up quickly and sees him watching her, her cheeks turn a rosy colour of pink, she looks back at her sketchbook.

'What are you drawing?' Shane asks. She's quiet for a few more seconds…

'Someone I used to know,' she finally answers.

'Can I have a look?'

Again she's silent, for a little longer this time. Eventually, she nods. He stands up and sits next to her, she hands him the sketchbook.

The picture's magnificent. There's a girl with long, dark hair staring out from the paper. She's standing under a full moon and holding a knife. It's all been drawn in so much detail that you can actually tell what the girl's feeling. She feels sad, angry, and betrayed. The moonlight catches the knife so perfectly that the knife glitters in her hand. It's the most beautiful and scariest thing he's seen in his life. And that's saying something, since he used to live in Morganville.

'Wow!' he finally manages to say. 'How long have you been drawing this for?' the girl shrugs.

'About two days, I guess.'

'TWO DAYS, seriously?' Shane exclaims.

'Yes,' she smiles at him as she takes the sketchpad from his hands, and it causes his heart to just stop. She returns to drawing as he stands up and lies back down on the bed. After about another ten minutes of drawing the girl quickly bites her lip and mumbles,

'I'm Claire.'

'Shane,' he replies. Claire smiles at him again before looking out the window.

'So…' Shane says once another five minutes has passed. 'How come YOU'RE not at the party?'

She shrugs, not looking at him.

'I don't like being around too many people,' she tells him.

'Oh, yeah? What about friends?' She looks up at him.

'I don't have any,' she replies, shrugging.

Shane suddenly feels a pang of pity for Claire.

'Why not?'

'Because people think I'm weird.'

'Why?'

Claire looks him straight in the eye and replies, 'because I am,' so softly that he has to strain his ears to hear it. Something tells him to drop the subject but he ignores it.

'What makes you say that?' he asks.

'Just drop it, Shane,' she sighs.

'Why?'

She doesn't answer.

'I don't think you're weird,' he says after a while.

'You don't?' She asks, looking at him again. He shakes his head and smiles. She smiles back at him and looks back out the window.

'Hey,' Shane says.

'Yeah?'

'Can you draw anyone?'

'Pretty much... Why?'

'Can you draw me?'

'You?'

'Yeah.'

'Um... Okay, I guess.'

Claire hops off the windowsill and grabs her sketchbook. He sits up and crosses his legs, making room for Claire to sit. She sits, cross legged, opposite him and finds a clean page, it doesn't take her long to start drawing.

'So, what makes you think I'm normal?' Claire finally asks. She looks into his eyes and he smiles, causing her to blush.

'Oh, I don't think you're normal,' he says.

'What? But you just said-'

'I just said you weren't weird, not that you're normal.'

'What the hell is that supposed to mean?' He laughs.

'Think about it and get back to me.'

She keeps looking at him but he doesn't crack, eventually, she just laughs and gets back to drawing. The truth is… he likes her, really likes her. She's not like other girls, she's mysterious and beautiful and talented and SO much better for him than Monica. The next time she glances up, they both freeze, their lips are only inches apart. They both sit there, frozen in place, but then a voice calls up the stairs.

'Claire, are you up there?'

Claire quickly pulls away, taking a deep breath. 'Yeah!' she calls back. She closes her sketchbook and climbs off the bed.

'You should probably go,' she murmurs. 'I mean, someone must be wondering where you are by now.'

'Yeah, I doubt my dad's even noticed I'm missing but… I should probably get going before someone notices I'm gone.' She nods and walks back over to the windowsill, not looking at him as he stands.

'Shane?' she asks, just as he's about to leave.

'Yeah?' He turns back to face her, she's watching him.

'Will you ever be back?' He shrugs.

'I hope so, Claire, I really do.' And, with that, he leaves.

End of Flashback

For a while, neither of them move, and then Shane pushes Claire back behind him. Frank stares at him in disbelief.

Of course! How could I have forgotten? Claire asks herself. It all seems so obvious!

'Are you fucking kidding me, son?' Frank spits.

'You're not touching her!' Shane yells. Shane's reaction tells her that he knows exactly what his dad has planned for her, or he knows enough anyway.

'Don't you remember what I told you? In the car, after the party? About who she is… WHAT she is!'

'Yeah, dad, I remember.'

Someone grabs Claire from behind before she can do anything to stop them, but she knows exactly who it is without having to see them. It's one of Frank's biker buddies. Claire yelps and he clamps a hand over her mouth. But it's too late, Shane spins around and punches the guy in the face.

'Claire, RUN!' Shane yells before his dad slams his fist into his jaw. Eve screams again, Michael decides to help Shane fight off the bikers, and Claire runs for the door. But there's just one problem, there's a biker blocking her exit. There's only one other way to go that isn't blocked and so she races for the stairs. She doesn't stop when she gets to the top, she runs straight to her room, slamming and locking her bedroom door behind her.

She can still hear the yelling and screaming coming from downstairs, but all she can do is hide, she can't help in the fight. She runs over to her closet and starts grabbing her clothes and chucking them back into her bags. If there's only one thing she knows anymore it's this,

Frank's blown her cover, she has to leave!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Claire's got all of her things packed by the time the shouting stops. And when the house falls silent she runs to unlock the door before remembering something, she looks too conspicuous. She looks at herself in the mirror and closes the door. She can't change her appearance, lifetimes of trying have taught her that, but she has to do something. If she runs off looking like this then someone's bound to notice her. She grabs a spare hair bobble out of her bag, along with a baggy grey hoodie. She pulls the hoodie on and ties her hair up into a messy ponytail.

No time to worry about my hair now. She tells herself.

She pulls up the hood, using it to hide her face as best as she can.

It's not great, but it'll have to do. That's when she hears the footsteps walking down the hall, Claire's heart beats faster as she imagines Frank and his buddies storming in and taking her. She keeps her back to the door, facing the mirror, trying to think up a plan. There are two light taps on the door.

'Claire?' Shane. 'Claire, I know you're in there. Can I come in?'

'It's open,' Claire sighs. The door opens and Claire turns to face him. He takes in her outfit and then spots her bags.

'You're leaving?' he asks, is it just Claire or does he sound slightly hurt? Claire shrugs, not able to look at him.

'I have to, they'll find me if I don't.'

'Who?' Shane asks desperately. 'Who will find you?'

'How much do you know about me, Shane?'

'I know enough.' Claire gives one, short humourless laugh.

'Yeah, I highly doubt that,' she mutters.

'Then tell me!' Shane begs, taking a step forward.

'Why? What do you want from me, Shane?'

'I want you to stay,' Shane replies. 'Claire, don't go!'

Claire looks up at him as she starts to protest, but the words get stuck in her throat at the sight of him. Now that he's stepped into the light, she's able to see him properly.

'Oh my God! Shane, what happened?' She walks right up to him and places a hand on his cheek, because Shane's black and blue. He has a killer black eye, a nasty split lip, and there's blood trickling down his cheek from a nasty gash on his forehead, just above his left temple.

'Nothing, I'm fine. Claire-'

'No, that is not nothing! Where's the first aid kit?'

'It doesn't matter, I've had worse.'

'I don't care if you've had worse, mister tough guy, you look like you've been dragged along the road by a car doing a hundred miles per hour because of ME! Where's the first aid kit?'

'Ugh. It's in the kitchen. And, by the way, I'm keeping that nickname.' Claire rolls her eyes at him.

'Whatever. C'mon!' she pulls her hood down, grabs his hand, and drags him downstairs and into the kitchen.

'Cupboard under the sink,' he sighs. Claire finds the first aid kit and grabs an icepack from the freezer.

'Hold,' she instructs, Shane's hand comes up obediently as he holds the ice to his black eye. Then she sets to work, deciding to start with the gash on his forehead first. It's not until he's pretty much cleaned back up that Claire notices his hand resting on her waist. She looks down at it.

'Sorry,' Shane mutters in surprise, as though he hadn't realised he'd been doing it, and dropping his hand.

She tries to ignore his gaze on her face as she continues. She lifts her hand back to his lip with a piece of cotton wool but he catches her wrist, holding her in place. Claire gasps and tries to look away but she can't because, once again, they seem to find themselves frozen in place.

'I should go,' Claire whispers after about five seconds of silence, their lips only about an inch apart. Then, before he has a chance to reply, she's turning her back on him and walking out the room without a backwards glance.

Jesus, Claire! Pull yourself together. You promised yourself that you would fight it, fight HIM! She reminds herself. She heads for the stairs but collides with Eve at the bottom.

'Hey, are you okay?' Eve asks.

'I'm fine,' Claire replies, she's not sure what her face is showing, she's battling with herself to not turn around and go back to Shane. She races past Eve and heads back to her room.

I have to leave. She tells herself, pulling her hood back up and picking up her bags off the bed. She heads for the bedroom door. But I can't! She drops her bags on the floor.

I CAN'T leave him!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next morning, Claire gets up and changes into some shorts and a crop top, ready to go running. Much to Claire's horror, Eve and Michael have already left for work so, when she walks into the kitchen, Shane and Claire are alone.

'Morning,' she says, quickly turning her back on him as she fetches herself some coffee. She glances over her shoulder at him and finds him watching her. She feels her cheeks heat up and so she quickly turns her head back around.

Damn you, Shane! She thinks at him.

'Are you going?' Shane asks quietly.

'What, running? Yeah.'

'You know what I mean.' Claire sighs but doesn't answer him.

'Claire,' he touches her arm and she spins around to face him. 'Are you leaving?' She shakes her head, not able to say anything.

'What made you change your mind?' She shrugs, looking away.

'Nothing-it doesn't matter. Look, I gotta go, okay? I'm off running.' And with that, she walks out, taking the spare key that Eve has given her with her.

On the run, Claire can only think about one thing. Shane.

What is she going to do? She's promised herself she wouldn't fall in love again. It might be the only way she can break her pattern. It's not fair, she should get a choice! No, wait, she DOES have a choice. She always has a choice, but both of her choices are crap.

Claire's mind runs back to where it all started… well, at least where it all started in THIS life.

Claire's Flashback - (Her eighth birthday)

Claire and her parents are in the car. It's Claire's birthday and so her parents are taking her out for her annual birthday dinner.

'So, sweetie,' her dad says, pulling onto the bridge. 'How does it feel to be a big girl now?' He looks at her in the mirror. Claire grins at him and shrugs. It's starting to get dark outside now, all Claire can see off the bridge is cold, black water. She suddenly starts to get a horrible feeling of dread.

'Mommy...?'

'Yes, hon-'

That's when the car pulls out in front of them.

'Oh my God, watch out!' her mum screams at the same time her dad yells, 'SHIT!'

'Mommy!' Claire screams. Her dad has to spin the wheel sharply to stop from colliding with the car but he ends up driving into the bridges barrier. The barrier snaps. Her mum keeps screaming until the car plunges into the icy depth of the cold, black water. Her dad hits his head on the steering wheel and, as a result, now has blood pouring down his face.

'Mommy!' Claire screams again, because her mum has hit her head on the window and is either unconscious or… worse. She definitely isn't moving. There's water pouring into the car and it is filling quickly. Claire undoes her seatbelt and manages to get her door open. But her parents are still in the car. She goes round to her mums window and tries to open her door. The door's jammed.

'Claire, go!' her dad yells. He's managed to get out and he grabs Claire and tows her ashore.

'Mommy!' Claire screams when her head breaks the surface.

'Claire, listen to me,' her dad says. Forcing her to listen to him. 'I'm going to go back, I'm going to get mommy, and we're going to come right back, okay? Under NO circumstances will you follow me. You stay here, understand? STAY HERE!' Claire nods and her dad takes a breath, diving back into the water. Five minutes later and neither of her parents have submerged. Claire continues to watch the spot of water where she last saw her dad disappear. People are coming now, she can hear sirens getting closer, people shouting.

'There's a girl!' She hears someone yell.

'Mommy,' Claire mumbles. 'Mommy, daddy!' she screams.

She tries to follow after her dad, against his orders, and tries to get back to him. But someone grabs her before she can. It all happens pretty quickly after that. She's taken to some paramedics to be checked over. They ask her a few questions but she can't concentrate, she feels like she's dreaming. Then she hears the news.

Her parents are gone, and she has to go off and live with her aunty Tracy.

End of Flashback

Claire snaps herself out of her flashback and wipes the tears from her face. She checks the time on her phone and sees she's been out for half an hour. She sighs, stands up, and begins her run back.

'Hey, I'm home!' she calls out as she shuts the door behind her, dropping the bags on the side table. She'd decided to stop off at the shops on her way back.

'In here!' Shane calls back from the living room. She smiles and rolls her eyes, going over and sitting next to him on the couch.

'What are you up to?' she asks him.

'Kicking zombie ass, wanna help?'

'Sure.'

After about three hours of playing on the Xbox, Claire pauses the game.

'Hey, I'm going to make dinner.'

'But it's not your night, it's Eve's.'

'Yeah, I know, but wouldn't you rather eat my amazing tacos instead of her cooking failure?' She winks at him.

'Tacos? Nice!' then he pauses. 'Wait, how did you know that Eve can't cook to save her life?'

Claire freezes. Oops! 'Um…' she finally shrugs and then escapes off to the kitchen.

'Hey! Not so fast, not weird but not normal girl!' He calls after her, following her into the kitchen.

'You never did tell me what you meant by that, by the way.'

He shrugs. 'I know.'

She frowns at him before going back out to the hallway and grabbing the shopping bag.

'Where did you get the ingredients from?'

'Oh, I picked them up from a little corner shop on the way home.'

'Fair enough, anything I can do to help?' he offers.

'Chop onions.' He grabs a knife and quickly sets to work.

'Whoop, Tacos!' Eve yells as she and Michael walk into the kitchen half an hour later.

'Yeah, Claire decided to relieve you of your duties of poisoning,' Shane informs her.

'Bite me, Collins.'

'I think you mean Glass.'

'Shut up, Jackass,' Michael replies, flipping him off.

'Ouch.' Shane rolls his eyes and grabs four plates out of the cupboard. That's when Claire's phone goes off.

She checks the caller ID. Unknown.

'Oh, I'd… better get that,' she tells the others and takes it up to her room. All of a sudden a really bad feeling has come over Claire.

'Hello?' she asks, putting the phone to her ear.

'Claire Danvers?'

'Um... who wants to know?'

'Drake Mamorio.' Claire gasps and quickly hangs up.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Claire's Flashback - (Claire's tenth birthday)

'Come on, Claire!' Tracy sighs. 'You have to at least make a bit of an effort.'

Claire and Tracy are sat around the dinner table, it's evening time and it's supposed to be Claire's birthday dinner.

'My parents died in exactly half an hour from now two years ago, and you expect me to be happy?'

'Claire,' Tracy sighs. 'You can't live with the burden of your parents death forever.' Claire shakes her head and says nothing.

'Claire, you have to move forward!'

'You have no idea what you're talking about.'

'Yes, I think I do.'

'No, you don't.'

'Claire-'

'You weren't there! You have NO idea what it was like. So don't act like you know what you're talking about because you DON'T!' Claire yells, cutting her aunt off midsentence. The doorbell rings.

'I'll get that,' Tracy mutters. Claire stays where she is, staring out the window. She can vaguely hear muffled voices coming from the porch.

'Claire? Claire Danvers?' A guy asks from behind her. She turns around in her seat to see a guy with short brown hair and muddy brown eyes.

'Yeah?'

'I'm Drake, Drake Mamorio,' he introduces himself, holding out his hand.

Claire glances over to her aunt, who isn't looking at her, before shaking.

'Um... Hi,' Claire says slowly. She looks back to her aunt, she's still not looking at her.

'You're probably wondering what I'm doing in your home?'

'Kinda,' Claire nods.

'Well, Claire, as weird as this may seem… I am here to talk to you about your… destiny.'

'My... destiny?'

'Yeah.'

'Okay, this is some kind of a joke, right?'

'Look, Claire, I realise that I must sound crazy to you right now. But, please, you have to listen to me.'

Claire just stares at him for a few seconds, then she decides to humour him. I mean, why not?

'Right... Okay. Well, seeing as you asked SO nicely, I might as well hear you out.'

'Claire, you're a sacrifice!' is all Drake says. Claire snorts and is about to make some sort of smartass comment but before she can, something clicks in Claire's mind. She sees herself. She's lying down on a stone table, being watched by hundreds of people. Men, women, and children all watch her as the tears run down her cheek and fall into her hair as she lies there. She remembers the fear.

'Claire?' Tracy asks.

'Um... a sacrifice? Really? What a bunch of bull, I'm done.'

'I'm not lying, and you know I'm not.'

Claire stands up and crosses her arms. 'I know nothing, what do you want?'

'Claire, please don't deny it, the Dacoro's need you.'

'What's a Dacoro?' Claire asks.

'You, Claire, are a Dacoro.' Tracy finally looks up at Claire but doesn't say anything.

'I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about,' Claire says. 'I think you should go.'

'Claire, your powers are strong, they might be helpful!'

'I'm sorry... What powers?'

Drake opens his mouth to reply but Claire quickly cuts him off.

'Look, Drake, I'm sorry, but I think you've got the wrong person.'

He sighs. 'You see, I don't think I do, Claire.'

'Yeah, well, whatever. I'm out.' Claire starts to leave but her aunt stops her.

'Wait, you're in on this too?' Claire asks her in disbelief.

'Claire, you don't even know the half of it. Let Drake and me explain everything to you, it's your choice at the end of the day.'

Claire looks over her shoulder at Drake before sighing and sitting back down.

'Claire, you're a Dacoro, someone who isn't quite human, someone of magic. You're stronger than a human, any human. Your parents died on your eighth birthday for a reason. Everything that happens in your life happens for a reason.' Claire looks at him confused.

'So... It's like my fate?'

'Yeah. And you know I'm not lying to you because you remember, don't you? Or, at least, you remember enough.'

'I remember death, and… pain.'

'Yeah, that's because all your past lives are finding their way back into your memory.'

'M-My past lives?'

'Yeah, your main purpose in life is to be a sacrifice, but once you've been sacrificed, you get reborn,' he sighs at her expression. 'I'm sorry, I'm not explaining it very well, am I?'

'Not... Really,' Claire admits.

'Right, I'm going to lay the order of your life out for you.'

'Um... Ok.' Although, she's not really sure that she wants to know.

'On your eight birthday, your parents died. On your tenth birthday, you find out what you really are and what your true purpose is. In between your sixteenth birthday and your seventeenth birthday, you fall in love. Your one true love in this lifetime that you want to spend the rest of your life with, you could've met him before or even been friends with him for years, but it's not until then that you'll fall in love with him. On your seventeenth birthday, you have to make the choice. And on your eighteenth birthday, it's the end.'

'The end?'

'Either you will die, or all other Dacoro's will.' Claire gasps.

She knows that he's telling the truth, she's always been able to tell if someone's lying.

'Why me?'

'Oh, that goes back to the very first Dacoro's, the originals. But… that's not for me to explain, that's your aunts job. It's her job to catch you up on the past, my job's to catch you up on the future and to keep your life on track.'

Claire turns to Tracy.

'How do you know?' she asks.

'I learnt all about this the night your parents died. Drake came and explained everything. As it turns out, your mother's side of the family is part-Dacoro. Or… half-Dacoro if you prefer. It's always the same, throughout all your lives, which is why I had to take you on board after the death of your parents and your dad's brother wasn't allowed to.'

'And you didn't know about any of this, at all? Until that night, I mean,' Claire asks.

'Nope. I was as clueless about it all as you were this morning when you woke up.'

'Wait a minute… you've known about this all for TWO years?' Claire screeches. 'TWO YEARS and you never thought to tell me?'

'No. Everything has to happen in its place, Claire, the way it always has been.'

'So, I get no choice?'

'No, you have a choice, either you sacrifice yourself to save the other Dacoro's or you don't and they all die,' Drake murmurs.

'How do you know they all die?'

'Because you've done it before. You wiped out the entire species of Dacoro when you refused to make the sacrifice because you wanted to stay in that life, with your soul mate. The only thing is… you stopped aging when you hit thirty, and your soul mate didn't. You couldn't die… not without a sacrifice, but he could. And when he did you went into a major depressed mode, because you were officially alone. Eventually, though, you killed yourself when you got too lonely to bare, and so the Dacoro's were reborn. But the ones you killed when you didn't sacrifice? They never came back.'

'How is that possible?' Claire asks, her voice shaking.

'Don't know,' Drake admits. 'All Dacoro's stop aging when they hit thirty, there's nothing new there but - as to how the species came back? No one knows.'

'I'm sorry,' Tracy sighs. 'I know it's not fair.'

'Damn right it's not fair!' Claire snaps.

'Life's life, honey-' Tracy starts but Claire's too pissed to be sympathised with.

'Don't 'honey' me!' She spits. 'I still can't believe you've known about this for so long without telling me!'

Drake sighs. 'Look, my work here is done and it's obvious that you two need to take some time to talk things out. You'll remember your past lives more and more as you grow older. This isn't the last time we'll see each other but, for now at least, goodbye Claire.'

Claire doesn't say anything more, she storms up to her room and slams her door. Trying to rid herself of the images that are now running through her mind.

End of Flashback

Claire throws her phone at the wall and screams into her bunched up fists. It's all happening too quick. Her phone clatters to the floor before ringing again. She leaves it and walks back downstairs.

'Hey, honey, who was that?' Eve asks as she re-enters the kitchen.

'Oh, no one important. Just someone I used to know,' Claire replies.

As they sit down to eat their tacos, an easy conversation starts up. But there's only one thought running through Claire's mind right now.

Fuck you, Drake. She thinks.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Three days of dodging phone calls pass. Claire, Shane, Eve and Michal are all in the living room, eating Chilli. Claire's phone goes off and she rejects it without even bothering to check the caller ID.

'Why don't you just answer it?' Eve asks.

'It's not that simple,' Claire sighs.

'How do you know? What's going on with you, Claire?' She demands.

'Nothing. just drop it.'

There's a knock at the front door.

'I'll get that,' Michael says, standing up. Shane's watching Claire from the couch, she's kneeling in front of the coffee table along with Eve. She's been keeping her distance from Shane, which is obviously leaving him completely confused, but she knows that she isn't able to deal with fighting her feelings AS WELL as avoiding her fate. It's just too much for one girl. She forces herself to focus back on the TV.

'Claire, it's for you!' Michael calls from the hallway.

She stands up and walks out to the hall, but she stops dead in her tracks when she sees who it is that's standing in the doorway. Michael turns around to look at Claire, judging her reaction. Obviously deciding whether or not to just slam the door shut again.

'Hello, Claire. Wow, you've changed.'

'You haven't,' Claire replies flatly.

'I see that your personality's still in check.'

Michael's still standing there, one hand on the door, waiting for Claire's 'okay' signal. She doesn't give him one. Instead, she tells him to go back to the others. There's obviously something in her voice or expression that tells him not to argue.

'What do you want, Drake?' Claire asks once Michael's disappeared.

'It's almost your seventeenth,' Drake replies. 'Can I come in?'

'No. Can I really stop you?'

'Of course! I'm not going to walk into your home without your permission, Claire.'

'Didn't stop you last time, did it?'

'Your aunt invited me in last time,' he replies.

'Why are you here?' She demands, deciding to go for Amelie's icy coldness.

'I'm here because you've been dodging my calls.'

'Ahh,' Eve says. 'So YOU'RE the mysterious caller.' Claire turns around to find all three of her roommates standing there watching.

'What the hell happened to privacy assured?' she asks. The guys shrug.

'Expired,' Eve replies, shrugging.

'Look, most people take that as a hint,' Claire says, turning back around to face Drake.

'Yeah, well, I'm not 'most people'. Anyway, I only need to give you this.' He hands her an envelope.

'Oh God!' Claire moans, taking the envelope off him before slamming the door in his face.

'Now THAT I can take as a hint. Obviously subtlety is a very strong point of yours!' he calls sarcastically through the door.

'Yeah, I'm taking a degree in it at TPU! Now piss off, Drake,' Claire calls back. She looks down at the envelope.

'Great,' she breathes. 'Hey, I'll be back down later, guys,' she sighs as she walks up the stairs.

When she gets up to her room she leans against the back of her door and rips open the envelope. As usual, there are only four lines written on the paper.

'And so it begins,' she sighs to herself. She roughly stuffs the paper back into the envelope before hiding it under her pillow.

Okay, it's no big deal. She doesn't have to think about it tonight.

She takes a couple of deep, calming breaths before opening her door and walking back downstairs. When she reaches the living room, however, she receives a nasty shock.

'Hello, Claire,' Amelie says, smiling. Eve, Shane and Michael are all sat on one couch, watching Claire in a mixture of disbelief and confusion. And Amelie, Oliver and Drake are all sat on the couch opposite.

'You've told them?' Claire asks in disbelief.

'We've only told them that you're not human and that your main purpose in life is to keep the rest of your species alive,' Drake sighs. Claire winces at that. 'We've left the rest of the explaining to you.'

'Why? WHY would you do that, Drake? Have you decided to control EVERY part of my life?'

'I told him to,' Amelie explains.

'Yeah,' Oliver adds in, looking like he's enjoying this WAY too much. 'Now, how about that explaining?'


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Claire slowly sits down and puts her head in her hands.

'Why, why would you tell them?' she moans.

'Because they have a right to know,' Amelie replies.

'What ARE you?' Michael asks.

'She's a Dacoro,' Shane replies. Claire freezes.

'How much exactly did Frank tell you?' she asks.

'Just that you're a Dacoro and that there's a reward for your death. He didn't tell me what a Dacoro is but he said that they're dangerous.' Claire lets out a breath.

'So... What's a Dacoro?' Eve asks.

'A Dacoro is someone with special powers. To humans, we're known as witch's,' Claire explains, deciding that she might as well explain it to them and miss out the main points instead of having Amelie or Drake explain it all.

'Why's there an award for your death?' Eve asks.

'Um... Because… I play a big part in the other Dacoro's survival…' Claire admits.

'What do you mean by OTHER Dacoro's?' Shane asks. Damn!

'I mean, um, that - well… I… I kinda have the power to wipe out my entire species in one day…' Claire struggles to keep as close to the truth as she can without spilling everything. She's worked too hard to just go spilling it all out now!

'HOW?' Michael asks.

'Um... not important,' she tells them. She ignores the looks that Amelie and Oliver are giving her along with Drake's noncommittal snort.

'I wouldn't exactly call your sacrifice unimportant,' Amelie murmurs.

'Wait... what sacrifice?' Shane asks.

'Um... I - I have to sacrifice a lot in order to help the other Dacoro's…' Claire mutters. The others obviously get that Claire wants them to drop the subject, so they do, but Shane definitely looks like he's going to pick it back up later.

'So, hang on, hang on, hang on, where did this all start?' Eve asks.

Claire sighs, remembering back to all the things her aunt explained just under seven years ago.

'Well, it's… complicated. But I'll try and explain,' she murmurs. The others nod. 'Well, it all started back with the first Dacoro's. The originals. There were only five to begin with. Felicity Danvers, Tristan Dormant , Samuel Mamorio, Franklin Spronder, and… Sondra Harness.' Drake makes a disgusted sound and Claire smiles at him. 'Two of the five Dacoro's were an item, Tristan and Sondra. What people didn't know, not even Samuel who was Tristan's best mate, was that Tristan wasn't really in love with Sondra. He was in love with Felicity. One night, Tristan told Felicity about how he felt and not long after that they… got together, if you know what I mean. Anyway, Sondra found out the truth when Felicity fell pregnant… and she was pissed. There really is no other way to describe it. I mean, she was PISSED! So she decided to use her powers, and she cast a spell on the unborn child, making the child's life HELL! She made it so that, every eighteen years, the child would have to make a huge choice. Either she has to make a sacrifice… or the other Dacoro's will pay the price. Every lifetime, near the very end before the sacrifice is made… the child falls in love.' Claire pauses, looking quickly at Shane and away again before continuing. 'She wanted to make it so that, every time the child makes the sacrifice, she has to lose her true love. She wanted the child to lose her love the way that she'd lost hers, she wanted the child to feel the pain that she'd felt. Every time the child dies she is reborn, it's a never-ending cycle of torture. And… here I am.'

'Wait... So, you're Felicity's child?' Michael asks, confused.

Claire sighs. 'I'm Claire Danvers, daughter of Felicity and Tristan. But they aren't my birth parents… my birth parents died when I was eight.'

The room falls silent.

'Wait, how's that even possible?' Eve asks. 'How can you have TWO sets of parents?'

'Iris Danvers gave birth to me… but Felicity gave birth to my spirit. My body dies but my spirit never does. So, when I'm reborn, my spirit comes back to me. It's my spirit that's cursed. I always look the same though, I can't dye my hair or cut it, because the dye dissolves or my hair grows right back. I can't change my appearance… which means I can't hide. Not forever. Eventually, someone will always find me.' Claire glares over at Drake who shrugs apologetically.

'Wow, I bet you DREAD falling in love,' Eve murmurs. 'I mean, when you fall in love, you know you have to make the choice, right?'

'Yes... Yes, I do.' Claire sees Shane watching her and completely ignores him.

'Have you?' Shane asks.

Claire finally looks over at him. 'Have I what?' She asks.

'Have you fallen in love yet?'

'No,' she mutters, looking away from him.

'I'm still trying to get it through my head that you always get reborn. I mean, can you remember all of your past lives, or what?' Michael asks.

'As I get older I can remember further back,' Claire explains. 'I start off remembering my latest past life and it slowly grows back to my earlier ones.'

'How far back are you now?' Eve asks.

'I've only got my original first life to remember now.'

Everyone's silent for a few more minutes… And then Drake clears his throat.

'You know your birthday's in twelve days, right?' he reminds her.

'No, I'd completely forgotten!' Claire replies sarcastically.

'What difference does that make?' Shane asks.

'Claire has to make the choice on her seventeenth birthday,' Amelie explains.

'What choice?'

'The choice on whether I make the sacrifice… or let the other Dacoro's die,' Claire mumbles.

'What are you going to choose?' Eve asks.

Claire shrugs. 'The same thing I always choose, I'm gonna make the sacrifice...'


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Later that night, Claire's lying awake in bed, she can't sleep. She sighs and rolls over onto her side. Eventually, she gives up. She looks over at the clock, it's gone midnight.

There's a knock at her door.

'Who's there?' She calls out, tying her hair up into a ponytail.

There's a long pause. 'It's me!' Shane calls back. 'I need to talk to you.'

Claire sighs. 'Hang on!' she calls to him. She climbs out of bed and walks over to the door, opening it to find Shane stood there. He's wearing jeans, no T-shirt. Claire feels a blush climb up her neck. Then she realises that she's wearing some short shorts and an old crop top. The blush deepens.

'Um...' she crosses her arms over her chest and crosses her legs. 'Can I help you?'

Shane takes in her outfit before doing a double take. He clears his throat. 'Um, sorry, I didn't wake you, did I?'

'Oh, no - I, uh… couldn't really sleep.'

'Yeah, me neither.'

'Um, so… what's up?' Claire asks, feeling more than slightly awkward.

'Um... can I come in?' he asks.

No. Claire tells herself. No. Nu-uh! Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea. NO WAY!

'Sure,' Claire seems to find herself saying. She opens the door fully and lets him in. Uh-oh!

'I need to ask you something…' Shane says, starting to pace around the room.

Here we go…

'What do you need to ask me, Shane?' Claire sighs.

'It's about this… sacrifice you have to make.' Crap.

'What about it?'

'What IS it? What do you have to sacrifice?'

Claire's silent, trying to come up with some sort of answer that doesn't involve the words, 'I have to die,' she's not doing a great job.

'Claire?'

'Um... I - I have to…' her voice trails off.

'You have to what?'

Claire's silent.

'Claire, please… tell me!'

'No.'

'Why not? It's bad, isn't it? That's why you don't want to tell me…' he's still pacing.

'God, Shane!' Claire says, hiding her face in her hands. 'Would you just… stop!'

'No! I want to know what it is that you're sacrificing!'

'WHY? Why do you care? Why do you want to know? Why-'

'Because I LOVE you!' Shane half yells at her. Silence. A long silence.

'Shane…' Claire starts but he cuts her off.

'No, I know how I feel so don't even try and make me think otherwise.'

'Shane, I can't do this, not now,' Claire half sobs.

'Why not?' Claire doesn't reply. 'Look into my eyes, Claire. Look into my eyes and tell me that you don't feel the same way, because I know you can't.' Again, she says nothing.

'Claire,' he takes a step towards her, she takes one back.

'Shane, please… DON'T do this,' she begs.

'Why not?'

'Because... because I CAN'T lose you!'

Claire's Flashback - (Her first ever eighteenth birthday)

Claire's lying down on the stone table… she knows her fate and she's too tired to run from it anymore. She's been running her whole life! She tries to block out the hundreds of Dacoro's watching her as she awaits her death. She can hear the footsteps walking towards her, and she knows who it'll be. Sarah. She turns her head to the side and sees Amelie, watching from the stands in a mixture of horror and regret. That's funny, Amelie doesn't usually regret things.

'Well, well, well, Claire, we finally get to meet,' Sarah sighs. Claire looks back up and sees Sarah standing above her.

'So we do,' she mutters. She can feel the tears running silently down her cheeks and falling into her hair but she ignores them.

'I am so terribly sorry, Claire,' Sarah murmurs, raising the knife in the air, right above Claire's heart. Oh God.

'Yeah, me too.' She looks to her left and sees Drake sat there, tears running down his face. Drake, the love of her life. The only guy that she's ever loved and can't bear to lose.

'I love you!' he mouths to her.

'Kill her already!' Someone in the crowd yells out.

Claire squeezes her eyes tightly shut quickly before opening them again. Her eyes lock with Drake's, and he's the last thing she sees… before the knife comes down.

End of Flashback

Claire blinks as the images flash past her eyes.

'Claire?' Shane asks worriedly. Claire focus's back on him.

'Sorry,' she mumbles. 'I was… remembering.'

'What's wrong?' Shane asks, walking over to her and wiping away her tears. She's been crying?

'Um... Nothing. You - you should go,' Claire replies, her voice shaking. She walks over to the door and holds it open for him, not looking his way.

'Claire?'

'Please, Shane,' she mutters, looking down at the floor.

'Fine,' he sighs. 'But I'm not giving up on you. I WONT give up on you!' He walks out into the hallway.

Claire closes the door, feeling like she's in some kind of nightmare. She climbs back into bed, all the while thinking…

Drake? Drake was my first love?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

When Claire wakes up the next morning, she's welcomed by a massive headache. Great. She climbs out of bed and gets some spare clothes before heading into the bathroom for a shower. She spends about half an hour in the shower, hoping that, somehow, the water will manage to wash away all her problems for her. But she knows it won't. Eventually, the water runs cold.

Crap! Eve's going to kill her!

She sighs and climbs out of the shower, changing into some denim shorts and a blue long-sleeved T-shirt before returning to her room, leaving the bathroom a cloud of mist.

After dumping her old clothes on her bed, she heads downstairs.

'You look like crap,' Eve says when Claire enters the kitchen.

'Thanks, love you too,' Claire mutters before rummaging through the cupboards for some painkillers.

'What's wrong?' Shane asks.

'Headache. I usually get them when a whole lifetime decides to resurface in your memory as a dream.'

'Wait,' Michael says as he enters the kitchen. 'So, that's it now, you've remembered your first ever life?'

'Oh, yeah,' Claire sighs.

'That bad?' Eve asks, looking sympathetic.

'Worse,' Claire replies, taking the painkillers.

'Want to talk about-'

'Nope,' Claire says, cutting Eve of midsentence. She sits down at the table and rests her head on her folded arms. 'I feel like shit.'

'Yeah, you can kinda tell,' Michael laughs.

'So,' Eve starts, 'what's the plan for the day? I mean, me and Michael haven't got work. So we could go to the cinema or something?'

'Can't,' Claire sighs. 'There's something I've got to do, someone I have to see. Sorry.'

Eve sighs. 'Never mind then. We can always do something later. Who are you going to see?'

'Nobody important,' Claire says, standing up and heading for the back door. 'I hopefully wont be too long.'

'Claire…' Eve says. Claire stops walking and turns to face her. 'Please don't keep anymore secrets.'

Claire sighs. 'I'm going to see Drake. Like I said, nobody important.'

'Why?'

Claire looks over at Shane and then quickly away again. 'I'll tell you later,' she promises before turning and leaving the house.

She pulls out her phone and texts Drake saying,

'Where R U? I need 2 talk 2 U!'

It's not long before she gets a reply saying,

'Meet me Common Grounds?!'

She heads for the coffee shop, not really sure what she's going to say but, she knows that whatever she says it'll be calm and collected…

'Why the hell didn't you tell me?' She half screeches before she's fully even sat down. So much for the calm and collected.

'Tell you what?' Drake asks innocently.

'Drop the crap, Drake. I remember.' Drake sighs.

'Look... I wanted to tell you, but - I don't know… everything has to-'

'Don't even try and give me that BS about everything happening in its place because I don't care!'

'Claire, I get that you're pissed but-'

'Pissed? PISSED! You bet I'm pissed! I only found out LAST NIGHT that I used to be head over heels for a guy that I've hated my whole life!'

'What was I supposed to say? Oh, you're going to die when you're eighteen and, by the way, you used to be in love with me?'

Claire sighs. 'This isn't your first time though, is it? Explaining it all to me, I mean.'

'No. No, it's not. It's one of the last things you remember but… you still remember it. And, when you do? You're always completely pissed.'

'So... how come I don't remember this conversation when I remember my other lives?' Claire asks confused.

'Because I don't let you, it's the one thing that I use my power on you for… to stop you remembering this conversation that we have every lifetime.'

'You - You fuck with my memory?' Claire asks in disbelief.

'Yeah…'

'Why?'

'Because... It's easier.'

'For who?' she asks. 'Me… or you?'

He doesn't answer.

'Yeah, I thought so,' Claire snaps, standing up. 'Stay the hell away from me, Drake.' And, with that, she walks back outside.

She's only taken three steps down the road before she hears the door to Common Grounds go behind her.

'Claire, wait!' he calls after her, grabbing her arm and spinning her to a halt.

'What?' Claire snaps. 'What do you want, Drake?'

'Let me explain-'

'Explain what? WHAT can you possibly explain to me that'll let you of the hook for FUCKING WITH MY MEMORY? I mean, Jesus Christ, It's hard enough as it is to try and piece everything together!'

'I'm still in LOVE with you, Claire! I have been for centuries!'

Claire doesn't reply... She doesn't know how to. She shakes her head and lets out a hysterical laugh.

This can NOT be happening!

'I know that this is weird and awkward… THAT'S why I messed with you memory!'

'Oh my God… I really can't deal with this right now!' Claire sighs in frustration. What the hell's supposed to happen now? She's in love with Shane, not Drake!

'Look, Claire, I know that messing with your memory isn't right but, well, would you really rather it be super awkward from the start? I mean, I have to live and watch you die, come back, fall in love with someone else, and then die again… then it just repeats itself! Have you got any idea what that's like? To watch the girl you love fall in love with all these other guys and it not be you? Hell, you wiped out our entire species for one of those guys! And now… now it's Shane!' Claire doesn't know what to say to that… but then a thought hits her.

'Wait... if I wiped out my entire species, and the old ones didn't return but new ones were created… then how can you be standing here right now?' She asks in confusion.

Drake sighs. 'Doesn't matter,' he mumbles.

Is it just Claire, or is he starting to sound like her?

'No, you're keeping secrets. What's going on?' Claire demands.

'It doesn't matter,' he says through gritted teeth.

'The hell it doesn't! Tell me or I'll-'

'Or you'll what, Claire? Hey? What CAN you do? Nothing.'

She slaps him... Hard.

'I'll refuse,' she spits at him. 'I'll watch as our whole species dies and it'll all be because of you!' She knows it's a cheap shot, but she's fed up of not knowing things.

'You wouldn't…'

'Try me...'

He backs her into a wall and places his hands either side of her head, leaning in so close that their lips are almost touching. She freezes, memories of her first life flooding back involving her and Drake.

'You're not the only one living with a curse,' he whispers.

'What do you mean?' Claire asks.

'After Sondra put the spell on you that bound you to a life of death she turned to Samuel for comfort. What she didn't expect, however, is that Samuel was just as repulsed at Sondra as Tristan or Felicity. Samuel pushed her away, made her even more of an outcast and, well… we both know what Sondra Harness was like…

She put a spell on Samuel, making it so that if he ever had a son, his son would be in love with you throughout all your lives. Standing on the side lines, watching in pain and horror as you fall in love and die all over and over again.'

'You're... Samuel Mamorio's SON?!' Claire asks in disbelief.

"Yeah," Drake replies. He takes a few steps back so that they're not as close.

'And... You're immortal?' Claire asks in confusion.

He laughs. 'I guess you could say that, although I thought immortality would be much more fun than this. I never age, never die and, as a result, I get to watch everyone I love suffer and die.'

'Like me.'

'Exactly.'

'Oh.'

'Yeah,' he says. 'Oh.'

'I'm sorry... I didn't-'

'I know you didn't.'

'What now..?'

'What do you mean, 'what now?', now we carry on like normal. You're in love with Shane, I'm in love with you, you die. End of story,' Drake says, she winces at that.

You would've thought that she'd be used to talking about her death by now but… apparently not.

'There must be something. We could find a cure for this. Make it all stop,' Claire says.

'No,' Drake says. 'We can't. I've looked, trust me. There's nothing to be done but for us to accept it. You're going to die… and I'm not.'

'This is so messed up…' Claire sighs.

'Tell me about it.'

Claire sighs and looks down at her feet. Why her? Why does this all have to happen to her? It is so not fair. Why do she and Drake have to pay for something that happened so long ago between people that they don't even know?

Claire can't even remember knowing Tristan or Felicity now, the only parents she can remember are the ones that always have to die because of her. And Drake probably can't remember Samuel Mamorio. All this time having to live on his own like he has been… Claire actually feels sorry for him.

'You should get back to Shane,' Drake says. 'We both have things to be doing. It's nearly your seventeenth and you still have a decision to make. I'll see you around, Claire…"

And, with that, Drake walks off, leaving Claire stood outside on the pavement wondering how the hell her life just managed to get even more complicated.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in soooo long! I've been writing stuff on Fictionpress and dealing with my GCSE's. I took a look at my story stats and things earlier and was completely shocked at how popular my stories still are on here. I'm going to finish off the story's but i'm not sure how regular i'll be updating. It'll probably be every two or three weeks or something like that. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, personally I don't think it's too good but i'm just getting back into the swing of the storyline again so just bare with me. Anyways, thanks for all the support, i'm actually quite blown away by some of the reviews I've been getting and I can't shout you all out individually to thank you because there're so many of you all, but to everyone who's reviewed, followed, favourited, or even just viewed my story, THANK YOU SO MUCH! If you feel like checking out my Fictionpress account then by all means, go ahead, my account name's 'Keyleigh S Perham'. I know this chapter's really quite short but as I've said, i'm getting back into the swing of things so hopefully my next chapter will be a bit longer. So, yeah, i'm going to stop waffling now and let you read... enjoy! :D x**

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><p>Chapter 12<p>

Time fly's fast. It's now only three days until her seventeenth birthday. Three days until she gets taken to the place of her death and has to recite the four lines that will automatically sentence her to death. She still hasn't told her housemates about her sacrifice, and she knows she's going to have to.

Tonight, before it's too late.

She's currently sat on her bed in her room, listening to the sound of the TV drifting up from downstairs, and the sound of Eve clomping around in the kitchen.

It's Eve's turn to cook tonight, meaning there's a high possibility that Claire won't live to see the day of her sacrifice anyway.

She smiles at how normal her life has seemed ever since she moved into the Glass house. Well, besides the obvious abnormality surrounding her entire life, that is.

She stands up and makes her way downstairs, taking a deep breath as she realises just what she's about to do tonight.

When Eve's finished in the kitchen, they all sit around and have a nice meal (or as nice as it could be with Eve's cooking) and then sit down to watch some TV.

Well, it's now or never…

"Hey, guys? I kind of need to talk to you…" she says, her tone of voice automatically drawing everyone's attention.

Oh, boy…

Michael quickly turns the TV off with the remote.

"Yes, hun?" Eve asks.

"So… as you all know, it's my seventeenth in three days," she starts, making sure to not look Shane's way.

She's finding it harder and harder to stay away from him lately, which is not a good thing when she only has about a year left to live.

"Yes," Michael says. "And you've got to decide on whether you make this sacrifice or not, right?"

"Wrong. I've already decided, I just have to announce my decision," she corrects him.

"Right," Eve says. "But what exactly is this so-called sacrifice you have to make, Claire?"

That question causes Shane's back to stiffen.

There's no way around this question. No way around the inevitable. So Claire decides to drop all bullshit and get straight to the point.

"My life," she answers truthfully. "I have to sacrifice my life."

Silence, complete and utter silence.

And then all hell breaks loose.

"What?" Eve screeches at the same time as Shane shouts, "No way in hell am I letting you do that!"

All three of her housemates start yelling things that are all pretty much along the same line.

Eventually, Claire steps in.

"Shut up!" she yells at all three of them, and they shut up. "Firstly, it's not like I haven't done this before. Secondly, it's not like I'm going to stay dead. And thirdly, I don't really get much of a choice! If I don't die then the rest of my kind will!"

Another silence as they consider her words.

"CB, come on," Eve starts, her voice reasoning. "I'm sure there's a way around this. I mean, there has to be, right?"

"No," Claire replies. "There really isn't. Drake's looked and so have I, there's nothing we can do…"

"Well, you can't just die!" Shane says. She looks over at him and finds his face filled with so much pain, she actually has to look away.

"I don't have a choice!" She says, trying to make her voice firm but she can feel the tears stinging the back of her throat.

Maybe it was a mistake after all, her moving in here. She should never have let herself get close to these people, she should've seen Shane was her soulmate in this life and run the other way.

Why had she been so stupid…?

"C'mon, Claire… you can't just… give up," Michael says desperately.

"You think I'm giving up? I'm not giving up, Michael, I'm doing what's best for everyone!" she snaps.

"Everyone?" Shane asks in disbelief. "And where exactly do you fit into this? Because I'm sure as hell it's not best for you, and I'm positive it's not best for us either!"

Ugh, fantastic. Now she knows it was a mistake to move into this house. Maybe she should just move out again, maybe she should go back on the run for the last year of her life to get away from everything for a little while longer, that is, until she's found again and the inevitable happens.

"Please, Shane, don't. This is hard enough already!"

"Then don't do it!" he half yells.

"Shut up! You know I have to!"

"No you don't, you have a choice!"

"What choice, Shan?! Jesus, put yourself in my shoes! Would you be able to kill off the rest of your friggin' species? Because I sure as hell can't!"

And, with that, she's standing up and storming off to her room.

She really doesn't need the guilt right now…

At least, if she did move, she wouldn't be prolonging her friend's pain…


End file.
